Page 11 - Top MMA News and Mixed Martial Arts Headlines

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The UFC's return to Northern Ireland is getting a significant reshuffling.
Gunnar Nelson is injured and out of his main event with Dong Hyun Kim at UFC Fight Night 99 on Nov. 19 in Belfast, sources told MMA Fighting's Ariel Helwani. In that fight's place will be a new headlinee: a rematch between Gegard Mousasi and Uriah Hall.
The extent of Nelson's injury is unclear at this time.

Kayla Harrison is training in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and boxing. She has offers on the table from multiple mixed martial arts promotions.
But the two-time Olympic judo gold medalist still has not made a firm decision on whether or not MMA will be in her future.

The next season of “The Ultimate Fighter” is expected to end up featuring some familiar names.
MMAjunkie today confirmed “The Ultimate Fighter 25” is currently casting for a January filming start, with the show expected to debut on FS1 in April.
While exact details of the season are still undetermined, UFC officials told MMAjunkie that welterweights are likely to be featured on “TUF 25.” And rather than bring in a cast of unknowns, the promotion currently is targeting a group of “all-stars” to compete on the show, including UFC veterans and former contestants on previous editions of “The Ultimate Fighter.”
Additionally, despite rumors of the show’s termination with new owners WME-IMG in place, UFC officials firmly shot down such reports and insisted “TUF 25” is proof of the promotion’s commitment to the long-running reality series.

Abdul-Kerim Edilov has yet to make his UFC debut, and he’ll have to wait longer still.
The Chechen light heavyweight has been given a 15-month suspension by USADA for testing positive for the prohibited substance meldonium in an out-of-competition drug test back in January, the UFC’s anti-doping partner announced Friday. His suspension is retroactive to Jan. 7, 2016, the date the sample was collected. Edilov will be eligible for his first UFC fight in April.

There won’t be any "Bigfoot" sightings in the UFC again any time soon.
The promotion released Antonio Silva recently after a rough stretch for the former elite heavyweight, MMA Fighting confirmed with UFC officials Friday.

The UFC’s year-end card in “Sin City” continues to build with the addition of a new middleweight matchup.
Brazil’s Antonio Carlos Junior (6-2 MMA, 3-2 BMMA) will take on Italy’s Marvin Vettori (11-2 MMA, 1-0 UFC) at UFC 207. Promotion officials announced the new booking today.

There won't be a title on the line this time, but Fabricio Werdum and Cain Velasquez will meet again.
The matchup of top heavyweight contenders will square off at UFC 207 in Las Vegas on Dec. 30 has been made official, according to Yahoo Sports.

It looks like Cody Garbrandt is close to winning the Dominick Cruz sweepstakes.
According to multiple sources, the UFC is currently working on Cruz vs. Garbrandt for the bantamweight title at UFC 207 on Dec. 30. The promotion has yet to officially announce the fight.

The son of the legendary Kimbo Slice had his pro mixed martial arts debut delayed once again.
Kevin "Baby Slice" Ferguson Jr. was supposed to compete against Ray Bing in a 165-pound catchweight fight on Friday at Bellator 162 in Memphis. But the bout was called off Thursday when Bing, who was also making his pro debut, missed weight by a whopping 17 pounds. MMAFighting.com confirmed the news after an initial report by FloCombat.com.

Brandon Vera will put his heavyweight title on the line for the first time at “ONE Championship: Age of Domination” in December.
The promotion announced the new card today, which will take place Dec. 2 at Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay, Manila, Philippines. The event will stream as an online pay-per-view in North America. Vera (14-7) will meet unbeaten challenger Hideki Sekine (7-0) in the main event.

A light heavyweight bout has been added to the TUF 24 Finale event in December.
The UFC announced a bout between Jared Cannonier (8-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC) and Ion Cutelaba (12-2 MMA, 1-1 UFC) for the event, which takes place Dec. 3 at The Pearl at Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas. The event’s main card airs live on FS1 following prelims on UFC Fight Pass. The bout order has not yet been set.

The card for UFC on FOX 22 continues to come together with the announcement of a light heavyweight scrap.
Paul Craig (8-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) will step into the octagon for the first time to face off with Luis Henrique da Silva (12-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC) at the event, which takes place Dec. 17 at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, Calif. The main card, headlined by strawweight prospects Paige VanZant and Michelle Waterson, will air on FOX after prelims expected for FOX and UFC Fight Pass. A full bout order has yet to be determined.

The UFC’s second New York fight this year after its long-awaited return to the state continues to grow with the addition of a middleweight fight featuring a “TUF” winner.
“TUF 23” light heavyweight winner Andrew Sanchez (8-2 MMA, 1-0 UFC) is set to meet Trevor Smith (14-6 MMA, 4-3 UFC) at UFC Fight Night 102. UFC officials today announced the new booking for the lineup.

A female bantamweight matchup between two former UFC title challengers in Alexis Davis and Sara McMann has been added to "The Ultimate Fighter 24 Finale" on Dec. 3.
The 135-pound bout will take place at The Palms in Las Vegas, officials confirmed.

For the third straight day, the new UFC owners continued to downsize the company.
On Wednesday, it was the UFC's Canadian office in Toronto that experienced massive layoffs, with approximately 80 percent of the department being let go.

Bellator’s debut event in Israel has received a pair of new contests with Georgi Karakhanyan vs. Kirill Medvedovsky and Karla Benitez vs. Lena Ovchynnikova.
Bellator officials today announced the new matchups for Bellator 164, which takes Nov. 10 at Menora Mivtachim Arena in Tel Aviv, Israel.

The main card for Bellator’s November return to San Jose, Calif., has a pair of new fights – and one features a highly anticipated MMA debut.
Keri Anne Taylor-Melendez (0-0 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) will step into an MMA cage for the first time as a professional in a women’s flyweight bout against Sheila Padilla (2-0 MMA, 0-0 BMMA). A Bellator official today confirmed the booking to MMAjunkie. An official announcement is expected today, as well.
In addition, Bellator 165 has added a lightweight fight between a pair of unbeaten prospects to the preliminary card. Carrington Banks (5-0 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) will take on Jake Roberts (7-0 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) to close out the prelims.
Bellator 165 takes place Nov. 19 at SAP Center in San Jose, Calif. The main card airs on Spike following prelims on MMAjunkie.

GSP’s lawyers remain solid on their position about the former champ’s contract termination.
The UFC immediately refuted Georges St-Pierre’s claim on Monday about no longer being under contract. Their statement, however, was also disputed by the fighter’s legal team, who recently spoke to ESPN.com’s Brett Okamoto to clarify their issues.

Hendricks (17-5) is in dire need of a win, which sounds surprising considering he was welterweight champion roughly two years back. Since then, “Bigg Rigg” has struggled to make weight and dropped three of his last four.
Time to get something going ... fast.
Magny (18-5) was slowly but surely climbing his way up the 170-pound ladder -- right up until Lorenz Larkin stopped him at UFC 202 back in August. No doubt a win over a tough out like Hendricks will get him right back into the title hunt.

A pair of legends are coming to Hollywood.
Chael Sonnen will make his Bellator debut against Tito Ortiz in the main event of a Jan. 21 card in Los Angeles, promotion president confirmed Tuesday on Twitter. The bout was first reported by Brett Okamoto on ESPN's SportsCenter. The event will take place at The Forum in Inglewood.